Anybody seen this before? Nikon Fieldscope snapped- Updated 8/26/2020

[BeaverHunter]

First off I want to say how much I love this little spotter. Bought new in December and has been everywhere with me since. Great spotter and very lightweight. That being said, I pulled it out of my pack and found it like this. Less than a few days after I had discovered the thread mounts pulled out of the bottom of the spotter mount. It surprisingly still works if you hold the 2 half’s together while glassing
Talked to someone at Nikon and they sent me a link to print a shipping label to send it in but they’re not accepting any packages until after the coronavirus calms down. We shall see if they honor the one year warranty. I’m a little worried these aren’t built rugged enough for me. Any one have any experiences with these?

 

[MWK3800]

No experience here but their warranty should be limited lifetime for the original owner on the optics and 7 years on the mechanical parts per their website. I've been really close to buying one of these gray market but I think I'll reconsider that plan. Good luck.

 

[BeaverHunter]

No experience here but their warranty should be limited lifetime for the original owner on the optics and 7 years on the mechanical parts per their website. I've been really close to buying one of these gray market but I think I'll reconsider that plan. Good luck.

I bought mine online on eBay. The Nikon rep said that was no problem and the receipt(which I have) isn’t required. So I’m optimistic they will stand behind it.

 

[Wrench]

I sent my edg binos in and they sent me the newest version a week later.

Never asked for anything but my shipping address.

 

[BeaverHunter]

Anyone have one of these little spotters for awhile that can attest to their durability? Did I just get unlucky?

 

[pirogue]

Now you know why they quit making rifle scopes

 

[flyinsquirel]

That's a freak manufacturing flaw/occurrence would be my guess. Those have been on the market for many years and you don't see similar pics all over the internet. I've personally seen one that took significant abuse and still functioned flawlesly. Get it fixed and rock on.

 

[rayporter]

aint nothing a little gorilla glue wont fix.

now days i consider Nikons expendable.

 

[BeaverHunter]

aint nothing a little gorilla glue wont fix.

now days i consider Nikons expendable.

I was thinking the same thing about the gorilla glue if they won’t repair/replace it under warranty.

 

[Hill Difficulty]

Yes, my ED50's two main body parts separated. Shipped it to Nikon's repair address in California and they sent me all new everything... Turnaround was 5 weeks cuz they had to wait for a new shipment. Happy ending.

 

[BeaverHunter]

Yes, my ED50's two main body parts separated. Shipped it to Nikon's repair address in California and they sent me all new everything... Turnaround was 5 weeks cuz they had to wait for a new shipment. Happy ending.

How long have you had the replacement one for? Any problems with it?

 

[Hill Difficulty]

That all happened in OCT/NOV 2019 so not much use since.

Despite my broken ED50 experience, am not suspect of the durability.

I went thru a similar investigation (online) when mine broke...could only find a few occasions where others had one break. They seem to have a solid reputation for durability.

Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[Hill Difficulty]

This too:

Am also a 2nd owner. My initial email to Nikon's warranty dept was that I was the second owner (bought it NIB) and did not have the original purchase receipt... I also asked about gluing it together... Nikon relied, "no glue, send it in, we'll take care of it..." And they did.

 

[BeaverHunter]

Update on this "experience"- After several months of Nikon not accepting any warranty or repair items "due to covid". They accepted my item on July 10th. After no response to online inquiries and several emails I finally suffered through 2 different 1 hour holds to get an answer on what was going on with my spotter. I was told that it was a "gray market" item and nothing would be done for it.

So word of advice from me is don't buy an Nikon item and expect them to stand behind it. I asked them how I was supposed to know it was gray market? They said I wouldn't know but to only buy from a "Nikon USA dealer". I told them about a recent great experience with my almost 20 year old Swarovski binos(that I bought USED on EBAY) and told them to have a nice day. Last Nikon item I will ever buy. Hope you all have a better Nikon experience than I had. Crazy to me that a spotter has 2 major issues within 5 months of purchase and a legitimate company basically tells me to pound sand. And the iceing on the cake is that "they will try to see if there is someone at the facility that can mail it back, but no promises." WTF?

 

[Q child]

Woah. That sucks. I'm sorry man. Super frustrating.

 

[BLJ]

Might get it back? FT. Sounds like Nikon just made the list.

 

[Tick]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Anozira]

Update on this "experience"- After several months of Nikon not accepting any warranty or repair items "due to covid". They accepted my item on July 10th. After no response to online inquiries and several emails I finally suffered through 2 different 1 hour holds to get an answer on what was going on with my spotter. I was told that it was a "gray market" item and nothing would be done for it.

So word of advice from me is don't buy an Nikon item and expect them to stand behind it. I asked them how I was supposed to know it was gray market? They said I wouldn't know but to only buy from a "Nikon USA dealer". I told them about a recent great experience with my almost 20 year old Swarovski binos(that I bought USED on EBAY) and told them to have a nice day. Last Nikon item I will ever buy. Hope you all have a better Nikon experience than I had. Crazy to me that a spotter has 2 major issues within 5 months of purchase and a legitimate company basically tells me to pound sand. And the iceing on the cake is that "they will try to see if there is someone at the facility that can mail it back, but no promises." WTF?

I had a very similar experience with a Nikon Monarch rifle scope I bought new. Several years later, it had a power ring that would become so stiff it wouldn't move in colder temperatures. They wouldn't take it in for repair because I didn't have the original receipt from years ago. Long story short, I no longer own anything Nikon.

 

[BeaverHunter]

Another update- After complaining via email multiple times, they got someone to at least mail it back. So at least I can try to glue it back together and maybe screw my tripod base into this and suffer until I can replace it with a Kowa or Swarovski. Might have a nice Nikon eyepiece for sale shortly lol.

 

[dakotaduner]

Thanks for the update. Always nice to no how companies handle things, good or bad. Helps me understand where I want to spend my hard earned money.